


Childhood Heroes

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: writerverse, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2014-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-15 01:44:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1286545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A grown-up Torren ponders what makes a hero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Childhood Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> written for LJ community "writerverse" prompt "heroes" (no dialogue)

Torren Emmagan grew up in a city full of heroes and geniuses, but he never really knew that until many years later.

His mother had always been _his_ hero, of course, and he’d grown up wanting to be just like her. Nothing had made him feel prouder than when he could finally join the off-world teams and heard himself introduced to their trading partners as ‘Teyla’s son’.

But he’d never really thought about his mom and her team as being _real_ heroes, like the ones in Uncle John’s comic books. So, when the Stargate Program went public, during his second year at MIT, Torren had a hard time reconciling the Heroes of Atlantis that were plastered all over the news shows with the people who had raised him.

Because General Sheppard, Military Commander of the Lost City, was really just Uncle John, who loved flying and Ferris wheels and always had to get Uncle Rodney to squash bugs for him. Dr. McKay, Genius of Two Galaxies, was just Uncle Rodney, who constantly worried about sunburns and paper cuts, and still raced remote-control cars with Uncle John. There was some in common between Specialist Dex, Survivor of Sateda and Uncle Ronon, who did unarmed combat training with all the new personnel but also loved to read poetry in his spare time.

Torren knew his uncles had dangerous jobs. He could remember being lifted to sit on Uncle John’s bed when he was in the infirmary, carefully writing out equations for Uncle Rodney when he’d hurt his hands, carrying a food tray for Uncle Ronon the time he was on crutches.

But heroes, really? Most of the time, his mom seemed to wonder if the other three members of her team were actually grown-ups at all, given how often she said their names with the same mom-is-not-pleased tone she used with Torren.

As he thought about it, though, Torren remembered other things, too. Like how Uncle John always had time for him, no matter how busy he was. And how patient Uncle Rodney was when he helped Torren with his homework, no matter how annoyed he was with his own science staff. And how Uncle Ronon had checked his closet for Wraith before bedtime, long after Torren had begun bantos training with his mom.

There were dozens of other times Torren could name, when his uncles had gone out of their way to help not just him, but anyone on Atlantis and many of their allies. That seemed much more heroic, somehow, than the missions he had heard about. Or maybe those had just been the sugar-coated versions they told him as a child— those stories had tended to be more about his uncles embarrassing each other or telling him how his mom had saved them (again). When things hadn’t gone so well, they hadn’t told him much of anything.

But with all the news coverage, Torren understood why they hadn’t come to visit as often lately. Torren knew they must be avoiding the media on Earth— even Uncle Rodney, who usually loved the spotlight. His uncles didn’t believe they were heroes, just slightly luckier (or smarter) than the others who hadn’t made it. _They_ were the real heroes, Uncle John always said.

And maybe that was what made his uncles heroes, after all.

THE END


End file.
